


The Monstrous Sheepdog

by JTR01



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Dogs, First Meetings, Gen, One Shot, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:20:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28862424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JTR01/pseuds/JTR01
Summary: On New Year's Eve 1999, a policeman is walking home when he crosses paths with a woman called the Doctor.





	The Monstrous Sheepdog

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Doctor Who.

Hamish smiled politely at the young ladies walking past him, who giggled in response before resuming their conversation. The twenty-two year old, still getting used to wearing a policeman uniform, crossed the street as he watched people leaving a club with smiles on their faces. It had just passed midnight and everyone was enjoying the start of a new year ans a new millennium, making resolutions they will quickly break and mistakes they will quickly regret while also finding joy with their friends and families.

Except him since he was out in the cold on patrol, while his sister has probably just put her kids to bed. He had wanted to spend new year's eve with Emma and her family but when he was given this schedule he couldn't find the courage to stand up to his superior, even though the hours he was assigned were far more than he should be doing. Emma always said he was too afraid of making people hate him so he never stood up for himself, which was why she had as nicely as possible asked of being a policeman was the right career choice for him. Honestly he wasn't sure himself but he's figured that after wasting the last few years trying to figure out what he wanted he might as well follow the path that's already been shown to him. Thankfully it was now over and he could get some sleep, as he had made plans to spend time with Emma on new year's day.

The sky was clear tonight and he could hear the sound of fireworks in the distance as he walked back home, getting closer and closer to the shockingly cheap house he shared with his friends from school. The wind blew against his back, thankfully not strong enough to make walking a chore. He was passing an alleyway, yawning slightly once his house was insight, when he felt someone collide with him suddenly and he fell to the ground on his left arm. He yelled in surprise and shut his eyes from the sudden pain, but the weight quickly removed itself and he opened his eyes to see a woman staring down at him.

Her hair was as black as the sky above, so much so in his confusion looking up at her he had difficulty separating the two, and she had dark brown skin with sombre blue eyes. If he were to guess he would say her age was somewhere between her late forties and early fifties. His eyes took in her full appearance, noticing that she was wearing an emerald coat made out of velvet that went down to her knees. Underneath her coat was a white shirt with a bright yellow smiley face, and she was wearing green and blue plaid trousers with the odd selection of clothing being finished off with rather plain black shoes. Hamish pushed himself up for the ground as he looked at the woman for answers, only to be very surprised by what she said next.

"Hamish? What are you doing here?" she asked in confusion, her voice an odd combination of gentle but firm which grabbed his attention, and before he could answer she looked over her shoulder. "Actually forget that, there's no time. Come with me."

The woman grabbed Hamish by the hand and quickly dragged him away with strength and speed he would never have expected from someone like her. He was too surprised by what had happened to even fight back as she pulled him towards the door of a house and pulled out what looked like a silver pen with a purple light at the end, which she pointed at the door before pressing something to make an odd noise. He heard the sound of the door being unlocked before she pushed it open, dragging him inside and quickly slamming the door shut. She let go of his hand and looked around warily, while the shocked policeman began to realise he had just broke into someone's home, before heading down the hallway and going to the left which he assumed was the living room.

"Hey!" Hamish finally spoke, his throat strangely dry as he followed after the woman. "What are you doing? You can't just break into people's homes!"

He froze as he entered the living room and saw an elderly couple staring at him and the woman in surprise, the latter now standing between them on the sofa and pulling the curtains open a little so she can look out the window. They both had their mouths open but neither found the courage to speak, though Hamish could see th mean gripping his cane tightly in preparation for whatever could happen.

"Sorry about this sir and madam. This woman is...unwell and I'm here to take her back to the hospital. But don't worry, she's not dangerous." Hamish said immediately while desperately trying to figure a way out of this situation. He liked to think he was a good at making quick but accurate judgments of someone's character and this woman didn't appear to be dangerous, though seeing as he only met her five minutes ago that didn't really mean anything.

"Unwell! I'm perfectly...ok, maybe not perfectly sane but I have been much worse in the past." the woman told him with annoyance as she turned around to look at Hamish. "Anyway, what are you even doing here Hamish and why are you dressed like that?"

"Because I'm a policeman." he told her with as much authority as he could muster which wasn't a lot judging from the unconvinced look on the couple.

"Yeah, but you're retired. Unless you're investigating things by yourself like noir private detective, which would be really cool but wouldn't explain why you're wearing that." she replied as if stating a fact, making Hamish wonder if she really was in need of a hospital.

"What are you talking about? You don't know me and I'm obviously too young to be retired."

"Are you?" the woman asked with a puzzled expression, reaching into the inside of her coat and pulling out a pair of glasses with a dark green frame which she put on as she got off the sofa and approached Hamish. She walked right up to him and gently grabbed him by the arms to hold him steady, Hamish too nervous to respond as she stared at him intently. "Huh, so you are. Sorry it's just that all humans are young to me so it's kind of exhausting to force myself to pay attention to how old someone is, and when you're busy saving lives that's not a good thing."

"But you are Hamish right? Hamish Curtis?" she questioned before he could speak as she removed her hands from him to put her glasses back in her pocket, while her right hand suddenly had Hamish' wallet which she opened despite his growing outrage. "Yes, this all checks out. Hamish Frederick Curtis, born 1977 which was a pretty fun year but July is such a boring month. Which in a way I guess sums you up perfectly. So you're definitely the Hamish I know."

"Did you just steal my wallet!? How did you...why did you...what makes you think that's ok!?" Hamish yelled, his anger and the stress of the last nine minutes proving to be a little too much as he snatched his wallet back.

"Hey, there's no need to be rude." the woman admonished him before spinning around to smile kindly at the still speechless couple. "I'm sorry for my associate, he has for some reason lost all his manners. My name is the Doctor and I was wondering if you could tell me the date, if that's not too much trouble of course?"

The couple glanced taking each other hesitantly, before the woman spoke. "It's new year's day."

"Oh that's exciting. But could you tell me what year?"

"It's the new millennium. We normally go to bed hours ago but we wanted to stay up for this one." the man answered with his grip on his cane still being visibly tight as he waited for any aggression against him and his wife.

"Technically that's next year but that explains why you don't know me, it hasn't happened yet. You told me you met me before but I never knew when it was supposed to have happened." the woman, or the Doctor as she called herself, said as she turned to face Hamish again. "Ok, so do me a favour and make sure you're stocked up with tea and chocolate for about March or April. I'm going to have a few cravings when you meet me and those really helped."

"What are you even talking about?" Hamish asked with a desperation for answered which was denied when the Doctor ran back onto the sofa to look out of the window as she again pulled the curtains apart slightly.

"There he is, I was getting worried he wouldn't follow my scent." The Doctor muttered to herself, and the couple turned around to pull the curtains about a little so they could see outside themselves. Hamish wasn't that interested until the elderly woman put a hand to he vermouth in shock while the man began to breath heavily in fear, at which point he went over and pulled the curtain back.

He immediately thought it had to be a trick of some kind, but it was far too lifelike to be a trick. It's movements were too natural, its white fur with random black patches was too detailed and its orange eyes were too visible to be accused of being a trick. The creature walked on four legs and it was only as it passed a car that Hamish realised it was slightly bigger than the vehicle, and when its mouth opened briefly its fangs were visible despite their distance from it.

"What is that monster?" Hamish whispered in fear.

"A dog. If you want to be technical he's a sheepdog like Ambrosius." the Doctor answered simply as she pulled out her silver pen again.

"A dog!? How in the world is that a dog?"

"Well he will be a dog, in about three billion years and after way too many experiments in genetic engineering. Don't worry he's not dangerous, just scared by all the fireworks and a long way from home which is sort of my fault but I didn't know he had snuck on board. That actually happens a lot now that I think about it, I should invent an alarm so I know when there are intruders. Anyway I've been trying to lead him to a safe place so I can stun him and take him back to his owner, but he's being a little difficult and had made me chase him all over London." the Doctor explained as she stopped fiddling with her one and turned it on, her eyes focused on the monster which suddenly focused it's attention in one direction before running off. The Doctor switched her device off but kept it tight in her hand as she got off the sofa and smiled gently at Hamish ans the couple. "Well it's been fun meeting you all. Sorry for breaking into your very nice home, and Hamish remember to be stocked up with tea and chocolate for he next few months."

"Where are you going?" the elderly woman asked with worry and fear, constantly glancing to see if the monster had returned. "Shouldn't we stay here where its safe?"

"Yes you should, but I need to get out there and do what I do best. Return a lost and frightened animal to his nine year old owner who is crying because she's lost her best friend." the Doctor explained before giving a small wave goodbye and dashing out of the room, slamming the door shut as she left.

Hamish and the couple watched her run into the road before following the direction the monster had gone, none of them sure how to react to what they had just seen. Hamish was struck with the desire to just go home and wake up tomorrow in the hopes it was just some ridiculous dream, and it was a desire he really wanted to indulge. But he knew that he would hate himself forever if he just went home while some mad woman went off to fight a monster like she was Ellen Ripley, so before the couple could even begin to speak to him he was already out of the house and chasing after the Doctor.

At the back of his mind he was screaming at himself and wondered if he had some death wish, but he ignored it as best he could as he searched for wherever the Doctor went. He kept seeing her green coat dash around corners and did his best to catch up with her, but eventually he found himself lost and unable to figure out where she had gone. He began to panicky as a hundred ideas of what could be happening to the Doctor day we through his mind as well as what that monster could do if it wasn't stopped, of what it could do to kids like his nephews and nieces.

He was just about to start calling out for the Doctor when he heard a yell coming from an alleyway behind him, immediately following it on instinct before he could even think to be more careful. He almost slipped as he practically skidded around the corner and raced down the alleyway, emerging to find the monster and the Doctor. The beast was approaching the woman slowly while looking like it was going to pounce on her, while the Doctor had her back up to a blue police box as she fiddled with her pen desperately.

It was only now that Hamish realised that he had no actual plan for what to do if he found the monster or what to do as it got closer to the Doctor. He looked around for something and when his eyes rested on the empty glass bottle someone had just left on the ground, he knew he was likely to revert his next action. Despite this he grabbed the bottle, ignoring how it was a little wet, and threw it at the monster with a pretty good aim as it collides with it's head. The bottle did my break and instead rather pathetically bounded off the animal's head only to smash once it hit the ground. The creature stoped its approach in surprise before it turned to snarl at Hamish, approaching him so quickly he panicked and took some steps back. He predictably tripped and fell backwards, yelling in surprise and his eyes widening in terror as the monster was almost upon him. In that second, with its jaw opened wide and him defenceless on the ground, he believed with all his heart that this was how he was going to die.

Instead there was a brief noise similar to an ambulance but at a lower pitch, and the creature suddenly collapsed near him. He stared at it in surprise while the creature began to snore and was so captivated by the sight of the sleeping monster he didn't notice the Doctor approaching him until she stuck her hand out. He looked up at her and slowly took her hand, and she helped him up to his feet with a smile on her face.

"Should have know you would follow me, you could never resist the idea of someone being in danger." The Doctor said as she began to walk around and pick up four white squares that Hamish hadn't noticed off the ground, speaking to him as she did. "I miscalculated how long it would take to charge up the knockout signal from these, so I'm lucky you had such a good throwing arm or I would be this guy's dinner which wouldn't have been fun. I much prefer being a guest as opposed to the main course, and having been on both sides of that situation I can tell you that one is better than the other."

"So it's not dead? Hamish asked as he looked warily at the creature warily while the Doctor opened the police box, which he could now see didn't look exactly like the ones from his childhood and his dad had shown him, and threw the squares inside.

"Of course it isn't. I told you I'm returning him to his owner."

"But how can this thing be a pet? It's a monster, it tried to kill me!"

"He was scared. It was basically stolen away from anything warm or comforting, and its been stuck here where nothing is the same. The smells are all wrong, the people are all wrong and all you want is to be with your best friend. It would make anyone scared and when people are scared the first response is either to run or to fight. He spent all his time trying to get away from me so it's only natural he would decide to fight back."

"This is insane." Hamish muttered while ignoring how what she said made some sense, when he remembered what she said earlier. "Hold on, you said this was a dog after three billion years. What did you mean by that?"

"What do you think it means?" the Doctor asked in return with a small smile of enjoyment, before she pulled out a metal pen that seemed to have a copper like colour and pointed it at the monster. To Hamish' amazement he watched as a blue light shone upon the beast and it vanished before his very eyes, fading away like smoke until there was nothing and the Doctor put her pen way.

"I must be going insane." Hamish whispered with genuine terror that made the Doctor approach him out of concern.

"Hey don't worry, he's just safe inside a miniscope in the TARDIS so he doesn't escape again." she said in her most reassuring voice while gently placing a hand on his arm which was strangely comforting. "Hey I know this has been a little scary, but I promise you that there's nothing to be scared of. You are one of the most observant and clever people I know which is why you're my friend, so I think you know what's going on here."

Hamish stared at her for a moment, hesitant to speak as he thought about everything that had just happened in such a short amount of time. "You're a time traveller. And an alien, I think."

"You got it. And trust me, we're going to be great friends. To me we already are but that's all in your future. And its a great future, a future worth believing in so all I'm asking is that you believe in all of this for a little while. Make it your new year resolution. Can you do that for me?" the Doctor asked him and Hamish couldn't help but think about what the correct response should be.

The correct response would to be to call her insane, claim that this was all one big elaborate hoax or even some sort of dream, and go home. Just go home and remember that this is the real world, and that nothing that they had jus talked about was possible. Sure there might be alien life somewhere in the universe, but they wouldn't look like a normal human woman and time travel was only in films. But much to his surprise he felt himself nod, allowed the part of himself full of childish dreams to take control and believe that maybe this was all real.

"Good. Thanks for believing in me. And I'd there's any doubts, just watch this." she told him with a smile before she dashed into the police box, shutting the doors behind her and leaving Hamish alone to stare at the wooden box while wondering if he was just crazy but also stupid. Then he began to slowly hear an odd breathing noise originating from the box while the light at the ton began to glow in time with the noise, and Hamish' jaw literally dropped as the box slowly vanished just like the monster before.

His life pretty much returned to normal after that, as after checking the spot where the box had vanished he had just gone home. He spotted the couple from the house the Doctor had broken into occasionally, but they don't speak to him and appear to just want to forget that night ever happened, unless he had actually imagined the whole thing and they'd have never actually met. He couldn't blame them as he really wanted to forget that night ever happened, but instead he made sure he had plenty of tea ans his fridge was stocked up with chocolates to the point Emma actually asked if he had a problem. He never consciously thought about that night, the night with the madwoman called the Doctor and the monstrous sheepdog, but it was always something he was aware of. He became ever more aware of it when March passed without anything strange and the end of April was quickly approaching, and the mature cynical part of him began to laugh at how stupid he had been.

On the twenty-eighth Hamish was at home watching the telly, one of his housemates having gone out to visit his family while the other was on a date, and was unable to distract himself from the knowledge that in a few days he will know that he had simply imagined the Doctor and the giant dog. He honesty didn't know how he felt about that but he was determined to ignore it as Mich as he could until the month was over. He switched the telly off and got up to walk to his bookshelf, feeling like reading the next chapter in his book before going to bed, when heard it.

The breathing sound from months ago and in a mixture of shock and excitement he tried to figure out where it was coming from. He eventually saw, at the for me rod his eye, the shape of a blue box slowly appearing outside at the corner of the street and before he knew it he was outside running towards it. He wanted to scream in joy because he wants crazy, it actually happened and the Doctor was real. Aliens, time travel and giant dogs from the future were all real. As he got closer to the box he noticed that unless his memory was wrong, the box was a slightly brighter shade of blue and the windows were a little smaller than before.

Suddenly the doors opened, a steady stream of black smoke coming out, and much to his confusion instead of the Doctor an Asian man emerged from the box with the doors shutting automatically once he was out. He was much older than the Doctor with short hair that was greying at the temples, and he was wearing what Hamish could only describe as a very Victorian outfit from things like his brown waistcoat to his emerald cravat.

"Who are you?" Hamish asked before noticing what was unmistakably blood on the left side of his stomach which he was holding his hand on. "Oh my God. What happened to you? I'm going to call an ambulance."

"No it's alright." the man gasped before coughing heavily as he leaned against the box, a look of terror on his face.

"I have to, you need a doctor."

"Well then it's a good thing there's one on the way." he responded with a weak smile as he seemed to calm down a little. "What's your name?"

"I'm Hamish." he answered while being prepared to grab the man as he stood up straight in case he collapsed.

"It's very good to meet you Hamish. I'm the Doctor and I'm hoping you can catch me because I get the feeling that this one is going to be a little more rough than usual." the man told him and Hamish's concern transformed into confusion before his eyes widened with surprise when the man began to glow. A gold light from his skin began to illuminate the area, becoming so bright Hamish took a step back and closed his eyes.

Eventually the light began to fade and Hamish opened his eyes to find that the man had disappeared, and in his place wearing the same clothes was the Doctor he had met months ago. Though while it might be a trick of the light, he couldn't help but think that she looked a little younger than when he met he. She blinked rapidly as she looked around without even glancing at Hamish, and when she did acknowledge him she briefly smiled before frowning and rubbing her chin.

"My chin feels heavier than before." she told him before falling forwards.

Hamish acted quickly and grabbed hold of the unconscious woman, looking down at her in shock before realising that he couldn't stand here with her. Hoping nobody would see him since he didn't know how he could talk himself out of this, he dragged her back to his house and shut the front door with a kick. He pulled her onto the sofa and took a step back as he desperately tried to figure out what he should do, just in time to see the woman coach gently and a wisp of gold smoke leave her mouth. He almost went for his phone there and then when he remembered what she had told him before, how she told him to believe that this was all real. So despite the logical side of his brain telling him to call and ambulance he went to the kitchen to make some tea for when she woke up.

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me what you think as I've never written anything with an original Doctor or Companion, and I would appreciate if you told me if there are spelling mistakes or sentences that don't make sense.


End file.
